Lessons from the book of Judges — Did God tell men to rule over His people?
A certain verse from the book of Judges is one of the favorite verses that most churches use to promote their doctrine of a hierarchy in the church. I used to be sick of hearing this when I used to go to church. Judges 17:6 and Judges 21:25 states:
“In those days there was no sovereign (king) in Israel, everyone did what was right in his own eyes”.
The ministers in the church I used to go would use the above verses to say, see what happens when you don’t follow leaders appointed by God. You end up doing what is right in your eyes. You need to follow us and we will lead you to the right path.
Let us take a step back and pay more close attention to Judges 17:6 and 21:25. We all know that Israel had many kings and judges. Even though they had a king or a judge, they still did the wrong thing. Just because you have a king or a ruler, it does not mean you will do the right thing. The whole point is, at the end of the day, what you do in life determines whether you are with God or not and has nothing to do with whether there is a leader/ruler or not. We must follow God and not men. Man should be ruled by God and not by men.
Judges Chapter 2 tells us, when Joshua died and all the generations after him died (verse 8-10) the children of Israel did evil in the eyes of YHWH and served other gods and served Baal (verse 11).
Evangelist and church ministers want you to listen to them because if you don’t listen or are not a part of their group, then obviously there will be no money (under the banner of tithes/donations) coming into the religious system. If you are part of their system, then you will tell this to many people and bring more people into the system. So it is advantageous for them to say that God has appointed them and you need to follow them.
When we read Judges Chapter 2, we see that the children of Israel started worshiping false gods. Let us now read verses 13 to 19 and see how the story transpires:
“So they forsook YHWH and served Baal and the Ashtoreths” (v 13).
“And the displeasure of YHWH burned against Israel. Therefore He gave them into the hands of plunderers who despoiled them. And He sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, and they were unable to stand before their enemies any longer” (v 14).
“Wherever they went out, the hand of YHWH was against them for evil, as YHWH had spoken, and as YHWH had sworn to them. And they were distressed greatly” (v 15).
“Then YHWH raised up rulers who saved them from the hand of those who plundered them” (v 16).
“However, they did not listen to their rulers either, but went whoring after other mighty ones, and bowed down to them. They soon turned aside from the way in which their fathers walked, in obeying the commands of YHWH, they did not do so” (v 17).
“And when YHWH raised up rulers for them, YHWH was with the ruler and saved them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the ruler, for YHWH had compassion on their groaning because of those who oppressed them and crushed them” (v 18).
“And it came to be, when the ruler was dead, that they would turn back and do more corruptly than their fathers, to go after other mighty ones, to serve them and bow down to them. They did not refrain from their practices and from their stubborn way” (v 19).
Judges 2:13-19 shows us that even though YHWH raised rulers to save the children of Israel from their enemies, they still went back whoring after other gods. The whole point of Judges 2:13-19 is that, ruler or no ruler, at the end of the day it all depends on you. Your faithfulness to God is what matters at the end of the day. The other thing we find over here is that the role of the ruler was to save the children of Israel from their enemies as their enemies were ruthlessly crushing them. The ruler was not supposed to rule over them as we see in today’s modern-day churches, where ministers rule over its members.
In Judges Chapter 6 to 8, we further see the rise of a mighty brave man called Gideon. Here the children of Israel were given into the hands of the Midianites as they were worshipping false gods. God delivered the children of Israel from the Midianites through Gideon who was faithful to YHWH.
Here is the test of faithfulness (the choice we make in our life) that Gideon had. When Gideon delivered the children of Israel, they came to Gideon with a proposal that could make Gideon a great ruler. Let’s see what they offered to Gideon:
“So the men of Israel said to Gideon, ‘Rule over us, both you and your son, also your son’s son, for you have saved us from the hand of Midyan.’”
“But Gideon said to them, ‘I do not rule over you, nor does my son rule over you. YHWH does rule over you.’” (Judges 8:22-23)
We see from the above verses what Gideon said to them — you must allow YHWH to rule over you and not men. The primary lesson that we need to learn from the book of Judges is that we must allow YHWH to rule over us, and not men. We must also understand that it is not Elohim’s will for people to have rulers to rule over them. But it is the Israelites who demanded someone to be their ruler. All throughout the Tanakh we see, regardless of who ruled, the decision to follow God or the ways of men was the choice of every individual.
– To be Continued